1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for controlling lighting in a plant factory and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing optimal lighting in accordance with the growth rate of crops being cultivated in a plant factory.
2. Description of the Related Art
To provide light energy required to cultivate crops in plant factories, artificial lighting devices are widely used, such as white fluorescent lamps, external electrode fluorescent lamps (EEFLs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), active matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLEDs), organic electroluminescent (EL) displays, and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).
For example, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0001434 entitled “Light Source Control System For Plant Factory” discloses light sources configurd to have different spectral distributions and to radiate light onto plants in a cultivation space, a reference reflection panel installed in the cultivation space and configured to reflect the radiated light from the light sources, a camera configured to measure the ratio between the intensities in respective wavelength ranges of light reflected from the reference reflection panel, and a controller configured to control power to be applied to the light sources based on the ratio between intensities in the respective wavelength ranges of light, which are measured by the camera.
The light source control system for a plant factory controls the light sources based on the ratio between the intensities in respective wavelength ranges of light reflected from the reference reflector, rather than the state of crops being cultivated. Therefore, there is a need for a technology for controlling light sources in accordance with the state of crops being cultivated.
In addition, the switching on/off of the light sources and the strength of light required to cultivate crops in a plant factory may be controlled using a separate lighting control device. In particular, artificial lighting devices, such as LEDs and metal-halide lamps, have the disadvantages of having a low efficiency because of the generation of heat, having the side effect of increasing the internal temperature of a plant factory and temperature around crops being cultivated, and increasing maintenance and repair cost because of a reduction in their lifespan attributable to the generation of heat.